How much would you pay to get rid of "evil spirits"? If you're this 67 year old Canadian man, probably a lot farther than you'd expect. The man sold his house and car to have a psychic use witchcraft to exorcise the spirits. All told, he ended up giving her more than $600,000 CAD.
The false witch claimed her name was Evanna Lopez, but was revealed to be Samantha Stevenson, a 27 year old Toronto native. She told the man she needed the money to cleanse it and would return it when the ritual was completed.
The most surprising turn in this case was finding out "Pretending to Practise Witchcraft" is legitimately a crime.
The second most surprising part is just how close the witch's real name is to a famous fictional witch.
The case was carried on for a nearly a year before law enforcement could arrest her. They began looking into reports of elder abuse. After selling his home, and waiting for the cash to be returned, he was asked for another $6000 CAD to be burned in a ritualistic ceremony and cleanse the spirits.